Following Knowledge Management and Organizational Cultures

Knowledge is power. Nowadays, organizations are practicing knowledge as a competitive and the tactical tool as referred by many practitioners (Ducker 1994; Nonaka 1995; Zack 1999). Organizations use knowledge to acquire understanding and this knowledge help them to elevate their performance (Milton 2002). Knowledge can be bisected into two parts, a) explicit knowledge and b) tacit knowledge. Explicit knowledge refers to "knowledge that can easily be coded" e.g. documented, identified, and articulated. Tacit knowledge refers to "knowledge that is extremely difficult to code" e.g. identified, articulated and documented (Ford 2001; p.33). The main challenge for an organization is to produce skills linked to knowledge management (Hart 2004). Every organization is comprised of two types of assets, tangible and intangible assets. Tangible assets embody all those asset of organization that can be physically touched e.g. equipment or documents. Intangible assets embody all those assets that cannot be physically touched i.e. human thinking or knowledge. Organizations that desire their knowledge management dynamism to be successful, they have to transform their intangible assets to tangible assets. Organizations can transform their intangible asset to tangible asset by employing a process known as "knowledge management or business intelligence" (Muhamad and Hayati 2006). Knowledge management refers to "the process through which organization creates, gather, organize, share and analyze its knowledge in terms of resources, documents and people skills" (Muhamad and Hayati 2006; p.2).Today organizations are using the knowledge management process to preserve knowledge and experience of their employees. Organizations can make use of their knowledge and experience in the future (Dfouni and Croteau 2004).Benefits of knowledge management dynamism occur at both individual level and organizational level. Knowledge management eases an organization to make a) faster decision, b) empowerment and c) learning (Milton 2002).Organizational culture is defined as "the way we do things around" (Usoro and Kuofie 2006; p.17). Organizational culture should expedite knowledge management (Goh, Ryan et al. 2006). Organizational culture set the rules, assumptions, values, norms, beliefs, a way of doing things in the organization (Long 1997).It is the organizational culture that escorts members of the organization how to administer their knowledge effectively (Davel and Snyman 2007).Organizational culture is the single biggest hedge for knowledge management (Mason and Pauleen 2003). Organizational culture can be accessed by centering focus on the organizational task, structure, technology and people characteristics (Hurley and Green 2005). The intention of our researchA was toA investigate the relationship between the knowledge management and organizational culture and addresses all those critical factors that can contribute either positively or negatively in the knowledge management.

2: Literature Review

2.1: Research Studies. Various practitioners demonstrated heterogeneous theories, models and case studies in which they debated the relationship between knowledge management and culture. Different studies have depicted organizational culture in diverse ways (Ladd and Ward 2002). (Long 1997) accessed organizational culture by applying behavioral perspective. According to him organizational knowledge and culture are closely allied. New behaviors are sculptured by the culture. He recommended four ways in which organizational culture impact behaviors central to knowledge management. 1) Culture and specifically subcultures outline our assumptions about what knowledge is 2) Culture conciliates the relationships between individual and organization-level knowledge. 3) Culture formulates the frame of reference for social interaction and 4) Culture silhouettes the procedures by which new organizational knowledge is taken, legitimated, and diffused. (Goh, Ryan et al. 2006) had accessed knowledge management within the Malaysian context, by applying a multiple case study approach. In addition, they examined the impact of a cultural factor upon knowledge management practice in the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) status companies in Malaysia. The study confirmed that cultural factors do play a consequent role in hyping knowledge management practice. Their study interrogated various cultural factors. A result concluded that collaboration, mutual trust, leadership, kiasu-ism and incentives/rewards have significant repercussions for knowledge management practice.A (Muhamad and Hayati 2006) adopted case study approach to confirm the soundness of the research model known as "Banking Knowledge Management Model" (BKMM) in the banking sector. After inquiring into two banks, they accredited different organizational cultures connected factors. These factors are communication, reward systems, leadership, use of knowledge experts, group problem solving, sharing of new ideas and lack of training. (Usoro and Kuofie 2006) demonstrated a model which splits culture into two parts a) Organizational culture and b) Societal culture.A A To scale the organizational culture, they presented two forms of approaches and varying culture connected factors that can add in knowledge management. These approaches are, a) Value based approach and b) Work practices based approach. Value based approach include three dimensions, a) Trust, b) Share information freely and c) Work closely with others. Organizational culture is consisted of following attributes,

Table 1: Organizational culture profile attributes as modified by Harper.

Trust Problem solving Demanding of employee Flexibility Being exact Team oriented work Having a good reputation Stability Supportive of employees Decisiveness Sharing information freely Predictability Being competitive Tolerant of failure Rule-oriented Being thoughtful Socially responsible Being innovative Being aggressive Being different from others Compliance Being result-oriented Security of employment Experimentation Fairness Praised good performance Risk taking Informality Fitting in at work Being careful Develop friends at work Attention to detail Being easygoing Working closely with others Take advantage of opportunity Respect for individual's rights Being calm High expectation for performance Low level of conflict encouraged Enthusiasm for the job Freedom of action Taking initiative Confront conflict directly Source: (Park, Ribière et al. 2004) as cited by (Usoro and Kuofie 2006; p.19) Work practices based approach include five dimensions, a) Autonomy, b) Inter-departmental coordination, c) External orientation, d) Human resource orientation and e) Improvement orientation (Van den Berg and Wilderom 2004). According to (Flynn 2004) successful organizations are those who own up and intrigue their existing intellectual assets as well as devise new knowledge inside the organization. To be successful, an organization's must address affairs related to culture, strategy, policy, and practice. To address culture accompanying essentials, sheA deployed audit approach. Cultural audit unveils foremost bulwarks to knowledge management process and system. Organizational culture associated ramparts to knowledge managementA  are, unwillingness to share knowledge, fear of knowledge sharing (job security), mistakes are not tolerated, too little time to share knowledge, no use of appropriate technology, information overload, command and control culture. (GümüA…Ÿ and Hamarat 2004) administered a survey on knowledge processes, culture, technological and socio-cultural affairs in the organization. Organization's cultural factors that are required for efficacious knowledge management are empowerment, leadership support (Nonaka and Konno 1998) and motivation. Human resource kindred factors that were singled out are, IT training, teamwork, communication, education, orientation and voluntary participation. (Chen and Mohamed 2008) demonstrated a theoretical framework on the business environment and endeavored to approach the impact of the organizational environment and technical environment on knowledge management from a strategic point of view. Every organization is comprised of an internal business environment and this internal environment can rescue organizations to carry out knowledge management. Knowledge management requires trust and collaboration. The outcomes of the study exhibited that both organizational environment and technical environment can affect organization knowledge management pursuits, but it is the organizational environment that has greater repercussions for knowledge management practices. (Choi 2004) attempted to scrutinize the knowledge supportive human resource (HR) factors that can influence the success of KM. Results proved that Top Management Support is a decisive factor for KM success. Factors that were accessed and conceived to be compulsory for the success of the knowledge management are training, employee involvement, teamwork and collaboration, employee empowerment and leadership. The results of a study reveal that leadership performs a more consequential role toward human resources supportive environment.A A  According to (Iftikhar, Dickson et al. 2003) to measure the success or failure of KM some sort of valuation process has to be matured. They deployed a questionnaire instrument for KM projects. To review the success of knowledge management in the organization, theyA advised four factors, a) organizational environment, b) technical and managerial support, c) strategy and goals for knowledge management projects and d) utilization of knowledge and technology. Culture linked factors that can expedite knowledge management are, employee willingness, networks are formed, teams are built, employees are trained, staff is rotated, failure is seen as facilitator for learning, knowledge is shared at regular intervals, best practices are used, time is available to employees, free access to information, common language is spoken in the organization and rewards are given to those employees who support knowledge management.A A According to (Tuggle and Shaw 2000) KM can be enabled or impeded by organization's culture. One way to review an organization's culture is to cross examine theA impact of KM on an employee's set of activities, meetings and attitudes. If the organization's culture brings changes to the individual's daily work routines, then the employee will be most likely to embrace the new work system. They come forward with the model that can be used to gauge whether or not existing culture is appropriate for the successful implementation of KM. (Hurley and Green 2005) utilized the Leavitt's (1965) model of an organizational change as a framework to review the components essential for efficacious KM culture. The results portray that -task, structure, technology, and people - conduce significantly to a KM culture. 2.2: Enablers and Disablers of knowledge management.A A After examining the literature, we found following culture connected factors that can effect knowledge management in the organizations either favorably or negatively. Kiasu-ism: Kiasu-ism refers to mentality that "knowledge is power" and job insecurities in addition to competition among peers, which lead to the hoarding of knowledge by employees for self-preservation (Chaudry 2005; p.6). Culture in which Kiasu-ism exits will not be able to formulate culture of collaboration and mutual trust. Organizational culture should advertise the belief that sharing leads to power (Goh, Ryan et al. 2006).Organization has to make certain that their employees get the opportunity to learn but, also improve themselves at the job (Iftikhar, Dickson et al. 2003). Organizational culture that does not prop its employees to comprehend that sharing will increase collective power will not be able toA continue knowledge management (Milton 2002). Communities/Teams:A  Organizational culture that does not encourage communities/teams building fails to institute knowledge management. Two heads can provide more solutions for any puzzle as compare to one head. To certify that knowledge sharing will take place among members, organization should make cross-divisional teams (Milton 2002).This drive will not only publicize the knowledge management, but it will also ease to amalgamate ideas from different sources (Nonaka 1995).By building teams organizations can make exercise the hidden skills and experience of its members in the more productive way (Choi 2004). Knowledge friendly culture is one in which employees work closely with each other (Usoro and Kuofie 2006).Teams or communities building begins collaboration. Collaboration refers to "the degree to which people in a group actively assist one another in their task" (Hurley and Green 2005; p.47). Without collaboration knowledge sharing and creation cannot occur; this is because collaboration directs toward the concept of "togetherness". Organizational culture should publicize collaboration among the members of organization (Choi 2004).Teams can be intra departmental or cross departmental. Motivate through rewards & incentives: Incentives and rewards are the source of motivation and moral boost. Incentives refer to "things that have the ability to incite determination or action by employees in an organization". There are two types of rewards. Extrinsic rewards refer to "positively valued work outcomes that are given to the employee in the work setting". Intrinsic rewards are "positively valued work outcomes that are received by the employee directly as a result of task performance" (Goh, Ryan et al. 2006; p.107). Both types of rewards lead to knowledge management. Incentives and rewards influence both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Amabile 1997).As employees indulge themselves only in those activities where their effort is appreciated, and they get favorable return for their effort (Gammelgaard 2007).These rewards will not only help employees to get personal satisfaction, but also help them to fulfill their monetary needs (Amabile 1997). Tolerance for errors/mistakes:A A  Organizations in which employees areA penalized for their errors/mistakes will not be able initiate knowledge management. Organizations should plug a culture in which employee errors are tolerated rather penalized (Milton 2002).Mistakes devise opportunities for learning, which ease an organization to get new ideas (Iftikhar, Dickson et al. 2003). Time:A  Organizations have to make certain that their employees get adequate time to imagine creatively (Iftikhar, Dickson et al. 2003).Apprehending and sharing of knowledge should be part of routine work rather another inclusion to responsibility (Milton 2002).Organizations can utilize its official and unofficialA time period. Common language: Organizations should exercise common language at the workplace i.e. official language (Milton 2002). Organization had to put a restriction on their employees to exercise only one language at the workplace and this language should be the only source of communication between employees (Iftikhar, Dickson et al. 2003). Trust:A  Knowledge management requires trust. Trust is defined as "An individual's reliance on another party under conditions of dependence and risk." (Ford 2001; p.30). According to, IBM institute of knowledge-based Organization (IKO) trust plays a vital role in knowledge sharing (Levin, Cross et al. 2002).Why knowledge management requires trust? This is because trust creates coordination and plays a vital role in the exchange of both explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge. Target of trust are,

Table 2: Categories and Types of Trust

Interpersonal trust The "willingness of one person to increase his/her vulnerability to the actions of another person [e.g., Zand 1972]" (Aulakh, Kotabe &Sahay 1996,). Also defined as "generalized expectancy that the verbal statements of others can be relied upon" (Rotter 1967). Group trust The willingness of one person to increase his/her vulnerability to the actions of a group of people (Rousseau, et al. 1998) Organizational trust "Organizational trust is a feeling of confidence and support in an employer organizational trust refers to employee faith in corporate goal attainment and organizational leaders, and to the belief that ultimately, organizational action will prove beneficial for employees" (Gilbert &Li-Ping Tang, 1998). Institutional trust "Institutional trust is a feeling of confidence and security in institutions (e.g., the law, organizations), that the laws, policies, regulations, etc. are to protect the Individual's rights, and will not harm her/him" Source: {Ford 2001; p.31} Share information freely:A  Knowledge derived culture is one in which employees can share their information freely without any obstruction (Usoro and Kuofie 2006). Sharing of information happen freely, only, when the organization exercises its knowledge as strength and employees had free access to all kinds of relevant information i.e. routine and sensitive information without any barricade(Iftikhar, Dickson et al. 2003). Autonomy: Autonomy is tasked linked and referred to "the degree to which organization members are allowed discretion in their work" (Usoro and Kuofie 2006; p.19). Organization that assists its employee to comprehend that they are an asset for them and empower them to take part in the decision making lead toward knowledge management. Organizations that transfer their decision making initiative lower down the hierarchy will be able to implement knowledge management successfully in contrast to those organizations that make their decision at the top level. By empowering employees organization can get more contributions from its employees in their meetings and on leading issues (Choi 2004). External orientation: It is the reality that every organization deal with external environment factors e.g. competition. So organizations have to outline their strategy correspondently. Organizations not only pivot on their intimate source of knowledge but also on its exterior sources (Chen and Lin 2004). It is the internal environment that sets the directives and criterions regarding how to deal with the external environment (Usoro and Kuofie 2006). Organizations often use consultants or conduct benchmarking (Hafeez, Abdelmeguid et al. 2000). External informants for knowledge management are industry trend analysis and journals (Nor 2006). Interdepartmental coordination: Interdepartmental coordination requires horizontal variables. This is because these variables can either dampen or ease open exchange of knowledge between group members (Usoro and Kuofie 2006). Horizontal interaction can help to achieve interdepartmental coordination (Long 1997).Horizontal interaction depends on volume of interaction. These interactions happen formally or informally (Sharratt and Usoro 2003). Human resource content:A  Human resource content refers to "explicit component of organizational culture" (Quinn 1988; Gordon 1990; Gordon and DiTomaso 1992; Marcoulides and Heck 1993 as cited in ; Usoro and Kuofie 2006 ; p.19). Improvement orientation: Improvement orientation is meant to "capture the pro-activity of the organization in improving its work practices" (Usoro and Kuofie 2006; p.19). Organizations gauge their knowledge management process against set of standards at a permanent basis (Flynn 2004). Leadership: Leadership refers to "the ability to influence and develop individuals and teams to achieve goals that have been set by the organization" (Goh, Ryan et al. 2006; p.106) .It is the leader who plans the passage and employees have to drive along that. Organizational culture in which leaders lead from the front and support their employees be able to create and share knowledge (Ambrosio 2000). Leader can influence organizational culture through its instinct, purpose and programs (Haneberg, VP et al. 2009). There are two types of leaderships a) Transactional leadership and b) Transformational leadership. Transactional leadership refers to "those leaders who guide and motivates subordinates in the direction of established goals by clarifying role and task requirements" and transformational leadership refers to "those leaders who possess charisma and provide individualized consideration and intellectual stimulation to subordinates (Goh, Ryan et al. 2006; p.107). Organizational culture thatA got transformational leadership will be able to implement knowledge management successfully (Crawford 2003). Training: Organizational culture in which worth of knowledge is recognized, they train their employees by offering different programs i.e. mentorship programs, job rotation etc. Training can be provided on the job and off the job. These training session aid employees to enhance their knowledge (GümüA…Ÿ and Hamarat 2004). Success of knowledge management initiative relies on skills and motivation, which can be advanced only through training (Choi 2004). After reviewing forty articles, following organizational culture related factors were identified that can either facilitate or hinder knowledge management in the organization.

Table 3: Summary of factors

1) Kiasu-ism (Flynn 2004; Chaudry 2005; Goh, Ryan et al. 2006) 2)Time availability (Milton 2002; Iftikhar, Dickson et al. 2003; Flynn 2004) 3) Teamwork/communities development (Tuggle and Shaw 2000; Milton 2002; Iftikhar, Dickson et al. 2003; Warne, Ali et al. 2003; Flynn 2004; GümüA…Ÿ and Hamarat 2004; Muhamad and Hayati 2006; Nor 2006) 4) Language (Iftikhar, Dickson et al. 2003; Warne, Ali et al. 2003) 5) Motivate through rewards &incentives (Tuggle and Shaw 2000; Milton 2002; Iftikhar, Dickson et al. 2003; Warne, Ali et al. 2003; Flynn 2004; Muhamad and Hayati 2006; Gammelgaard 2007) 6) Trust (Tuggle and Shaw 2000; Ford 2001; Milton 2002; Sharratt and Usoro 2003; Warne, Ali et al. 2003; Goh, Ryan et al. 2006; Usoro and Kuofie 2006; Chen and Mohamed 2008) 7) Tolerance for error/mistakes (Long 1997; Tuggle and Shaw 2000; Milton 2002; Iftikhar, Dickson et al. 2003; Warne, Ali et al. 2003; Flynn 2004) 8) Free sharing (Warne, Ali et al. 2003; GümüA…Ÿ and Hamarat 2004; Usoro and Kuofie 2006) 9) Work closely with others (Usoro and Kuofie 2006) 10) Leadership (Warne, Ali et al. 2003; GümüA…Ÿ and Hamarat 2004; Goh, Ryan et al. 2006) 11) Autonomy (Chen and Lin 2004; Van den Berg and Wilderom 2004; Usoro and Kuofie 2006) 12) Training (Warne, Ali et al. 2003; Choi 2004; Flynn 2004; GümüA…Ÿ and Hamarat 2004) 13) External orientation (Van den Berg and Wilderom 2004; Usoro and Kuofie 2006) 14) Empowerment (Tuggle and Shaw 2000; Warne, Ali et al. 2003; Choi 2004; GümüA…Ÿ and Hamarat 2004) 15) Interdepartmental coordination (Van den Berg and Wilderom 2004; Usoro and Kuofie 2006) 16) Collaboration (Choi 2004; Flynn 2004; Goh, Ryan et al. 2006) 17) Human resource content (Van den Berg and Wilderom 2004; Usoro and Kuofie 2006) 18) Improvement orientation (Van den Berg and Wilderom 2004; Usoro and Kuofie 2006)

3: Research Methodology

The intention of this research was to identify top ten essential factors akin to the organizational culture that can conduce in the knowledge management. Apart from that diverse sub-factors were singled out that conceived to be indispensable for the knowledge management. The sample for this fact finding was taken from the banking sector of Pakistan i.e. Private, Public, Islamic and Foreign limited banks. The rationale to pick out the sample from this sector was that these organizations are practicing knowledge management and they are present at geographically dispersed locations. Total of 115 responses were used for the diagnosis. Response rate from these banks was 100%. This was due to the reasoning that we used snowball reference technique. The instrument deployed for this study was the questionnaire. For the sake of precise response questionnaires were filled at the spot personally. Data analysis was conducted by using Microsoft Excel version 2003 and Statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 12 for windows. Two categories were advanced for the analysis, a) Private limited bank (63%, N=73) and b) Other limited banks (37%, N=42) i.e. Public, Islamic and Foreign banks. To examine the feedback of the responders for all variable quantities descriptive statistics were computed. Mean score was soiled to rank out of all those variables that conduce in knowledge management. High mean score delineates the most important factors and low mean score depicts the least important factor. Independent sample t-test was administered to determine the difference of mean score. Low significance values (Sig. 2-tailed < 0.05) reveal all those variables on which responders of both private limited and other limited banks deviate considerably. The questionnaire was consisted of two sections. First sectionA used to navigate theA response of the respondents about top fifteen cultural factors that can add in knowledge management positively. This section was comprised of eleven questions. In question one, respondents were asked score each variable out of 100. Based on this score top ten cultural factors were singled out. Question two to eleven was consisted of organization affiliated sub-factors that can contribute in knowledge management. In these questions, respondents were asked to indicate their feedback on the five point likert scale (1= strongly agree, 2= agree, 3=neutral, 4=disagree and 5= strongly disagree). Second section of the questionnaire was intended to collect general information i.e. name, designation, geographic location and contact information. Information was congregated from both managerial (75%, N=86) and non-managerial level (25%, N=29) employees by using the convenience based sampling.

4: Results.

A This section presents the findingA on organizational cultural factors that were believed to be necessary for knowledge management. In first question, respondents of both private and other limited banks were asked to score each factor out of 100. Fifteen organizational culture related factors that were presented in the questionnaire. Results are summarized below in the Figure 1 and Figure 2.These results were summarized byA using a mean score. Based on the mean score all these factors were ranked.

Figure 1: Organizational culture related factors for knowledge management (Private limited banks).

Based on the mean score , it can be inferred that top ten cultural factors that are necessary for knowledge management in the private limited banks are; 1) leadership (m=87.63 ), followed byA A 2) trust (m=82.74 ), 3) training ( m=81.75 ), 4) use of reward and incentives (m=81.71 ), 5) free sharing of information between the employees (m= 79.97), 6) interdepartmental coordination (m= 79.14), 7) improvement orientation (m=75.75 ), 8) culture of team building to share knowledge (m=73.15 ), 9) human resource content (m=73.14 ) and 10) empowerment of the employee in the decision making (m=68.92 ).

Figure 2: Organizational cultural related factors for knowledge management (Other limited banks).

Based on the mean score of the other limited banks, it can be concluded that top ten cultural factors that are necessary for knowledge management are; 1) trust (m= 88.10), 2) training (m=82.02 ), 3) leadership (m=81.98 ), 4) use of reward and incentives (m=81.43 ), 5) free sharing of information between the employees (m=78.81 ), 6) interdepartmental coordination (m=76.93 ), 7) human resource content (m= 76.55), 8) use of common language at the workplace to share ideas (m=75.95 ), 9) improvement orientation (m=74.12 ) and 10) building teams or communities to share knowledge (m=72.74 ). A factor that was considered to be least significant in knowledge management was Kiasu-ism. It was ranked at 15th position by both private and other limited banks. Kiasu-ism refers to the ideology that knowledge is power only for me why I should share it with others?. Question two to eleven were designed to find out all those sub-factors that can contribute in the knowledge management. To testify the contribution of these sub-factors in the knowledge management descriptive statistics were used. Responses were based on the 5 point likert scale (1= strongly agree, 2= agree, 3=neutral, 4=disagree and 5= strongly disagree). Table 4; summarizes the results of both private and other limited banks on the likert scale.

Table 4: Group Statistics for sub-factors.

Banks N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean Knowledge is power Private banks 73 4.3014 1.08890 .12745 Other banks 42 4.0000 1.22971 .18975 Sharing is power Ls Private banks 73 1.3014 .75801 .08872 Other banks 42 1.4048 .66478 .10258 Cross departmental teams Private banks 73 2.4384 1.01361 .11863 Other banks 42 2.4286 1.06251 .16395 Intra departmental teams Private banks 73 2.5753 1.07907 .12630 Other banks 42 2.5000 1.19450 .18432 Intrinsic rewards Private banks 73 3.2192 1.30434 .15266 Other banks 42 2.4286 .96633 .14911 Extrinsic rewards Private banks 73 1.7945 .92735 .10854 Other banks 42 2.2619 1.14890 .17728 Formal time Private banks 73 2.0137 1.16062 .13584 Other banks 42 1.9048 1.05483 .16276 Informal time Private banks 73 2.9863 1.27468 .14919 Other banks 42 2.6905 1.02382 .15798 Official language Private banks 73 2.0000 1.23603 .14467 Other banks 42 1.9524 .98655 .15223 Local language Private banks 73 2.9863 1.30696 .15297 Other banks 42 2.8095 1.15269 .17786 Interpersonal trust Private banks 73 1.8356 .81673 .09559 Other banks 42 1.9762 .86920 .13412 Group trust Private banks 73 2.1233 1.04010 .12173 Other banks 42 2.1429 .81365 .12555 Organizational trust Private banks 73 2.1233 1.06647 .12482 Other banks 42 1.8571 .81365 .12555 Institutional trust Private banks 73 2.6438 1.04576 .12240 Other banks 42 2.1429 .95180 .14687 Access to sensitive information Private banks 73 3.5753 1.18928 .13919 Other banks 42 3.3333 1.24287 .19178 Access to routine information Private banks 73 1.6438 .91848 .10750 Other banks 42 1.7143 .74197 .11449 Use of consultants Private banks 73 2.5479 1.19072 .13936 Other banks 42 2.5952 1.21092 .18685 Benchmarking Private banks 73 2.2740 1.08347 .12681 Other banks 42 2.0476 1.01097 .15600 Transformational leadership Private banks 73 3.2877 1.16045 .13582 Other banks 42 3.3333 1.00406 .15493 Transactional leadership Private banks 73 1.6301 1.02071 .11947 Other banks 42 1.7143 .74197 .11449 On the job training Private banks 73 1.4521 .66752 .07813 Other banks 42 1.7381 .76699 .11835 Off the job training Private banks 73 3.2466 1.25588 .14699 Other banks 42 2.9762 1.21952 .18818 Note: Based on 5-point likert scale. According to the respondents of private limited banks, sub-factors thatA were essentialA forA the knowledge management are, 1) organization should promote the belief that sharing as aA A power (m= 1.3014), 2) organization should offer extrinsic rewards (m= 1.7945), 3) official language (m=2.0000) should be used as a mean of communication rather local language, 4) interpersonal trust (m=1.8356) is required for knowledge management, 5) organization should grant free access to routine information (m=1.6438), 6) knowledge management requires transactional leadership (m=1.6301) and 7) on the job training (m=1.4521) is required for effective knowledge management. According to the respondents of the other limited banks sub-factors that can contribute in the knowledge management are; 1) organization should popularize sharing as a power (m=1.4048), 2) sharing of new ideas occurred during the formal time period i.e. during working hours (m=1.9048) rather during the informal time period i.e. during tea time or lunch breaks, 3) official language (m=1.9524) should be used as a mean of communication rather local language, 4) effective knowledge management requires both interpersonal trust (m=1.9762) and 5) organizational trust (m=1.8571), 6) organization should provide free access to routine information (m=1.7143), 7) knowledge management requires transactional leadership(m=1.7143) and 8) on the job training (m=1.7381) is required for effective knowledge management. Independent sample t-test was accompanied to further inspect the level of consent between respondents of private and other limited banks on the sub-factors.A The results of independent sample t-test are summarized below in the table 5,

Table 5: Independent sample t-test for sub-factors

Variables Levene's Test for Equality of Variances t-test for Equality of Means F Sig. t df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Difference Std. Error Difference 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Lower Upper Knowledge is power. Equal variances assumed 0.296 0.588 1.363 113 0.176 0.30137 0.22117 -0.1368 0.73955 Sharing is power Equal variances assumed 0.201 0.655 -0.74 113 0.463 -0.10339 0.14052 -0.3818 0.17501 Cross departmental teams Equal variances assumed 0 0.988 0.049 113 0.961 0.00978 0.19979 -0.386 0.40561 Intra departmental teams Equal variances assumed 1.763 0.187 0.347 113 0.73 0.07534 0.21736 -0.3553 0.50597 Intrinsic rewards Equal variances not assumed 5.862 0.017 3.705 105.8 0** 0.79061 0.2134 0.36752 1.2137 Extrinsic rewards Equal variances assumed 1.588 0.21 -2.38 113 0.019** -0.46738 0.19626 -0.8562 -0.0786 Formal time Equal variances assumed 0.632 0.428 0.501 113 0.618 0.10894 0.21757 -0.3221 0.53997 Informal time Equal variances assumed 2.443 0.121 1.284 113 0.202 0.29583 0.23043 -0.1607 0.75234 Official language Equal variances assumed 2.132 0.147 0.213 113 0.831 0.04762 0.22306 -0.3943 0.48955 Local language Equal variances assumed 0.661 0.418 0.728 113 0.468 0.17678 0.2427 -0.3041 0.65762 Interpersonal trust Equal variances assumed 0.503 0.48 -0.87 113 0.387 -0.14057 0.16194 -0.4614 0.18025 Group trust Equal variances assumed 1.58 0.211 -0.11 113 0.917 -0.01957 0.18672 -0.3895 0.35035 Organizational trust Equal variances assumed 0.72 0.398 1.399 113 0.165 0.26614 0.19024 -0.1108 0.64305 Institutional trust Equal variances assumed 2.768 0.099 2.554 113 0.012** 0.50098 0.19612 0.11242 0.88954 Access to sensitive information Equal variances assumed 0.291 0.591 1.034 113 0.304 0.24201 0.23415 -0.2219 0.7059 Access to routine information Equal variances assumed 0.84 0.361 -0.42 113 0.673 -0.07045 0.16629 -0.3999 0.25901 Use of consultants Equal variances assumed 0.002 0.964 -0.2 113 0.839 -0.04729 0.23203 -0.507 0.41241 Benchmarking Equal variances assumed 1.169 0.282 1.105 113 0.272 0.22635 0.20485 -0.1795 0.6322 Transformational leadership Equal variances assumed 1.32 0.253 -0.21 113 0.832 -0.04566 0.21425 -0.4701 0.37881 Transactional leadership Equal variances assumed 2.784 0.098 -0.47 113 0.641 -0.08415 0.17998 -0.4407 0.27242 On the job training Equal variances assumed 1.023 0.314 -2.09 113 0.038** -0.28604 0.13658 -0.5566 -0.0154 Off the job training Equal variances assumed 0.884 0.349 1.123 113 0.264 0.27038 0.2407 -0.2065 0.74725 Note: Based on a 5-point likert scale. ** Sig. (2-tailed<0.05) depict those factors on which respondents of private and other limited banks differ significantly. Based on the above results, we can infer that both private and other limited banks deviate significantly on these factors; on the job training, Institutional trust, extrinsic rewards and the use of intrinsic rewards to promote knowledge management in the organization.

5: Conclusion:

The findings of this research will enable the management of banking sector to get know-how about all those factors that can contribute positively in knowledge management. By addressing these factors management will be able to create knowledge based culture. This initiative will help management to deliver quality service and get good return on investment on major decisions. Moreover, it will help other organizations to implement knowledge management without any barricade. Every organization need to address its culture related at first. Results reveal that most respondents are at an agreement that cultural factors add positively toward knowledge management in their organization. To formulate knowledge based culture organizations should address these top ten issues i.e. trust, leadership, training, use of rewards/incentives, free sharing of information, interdepartmental coordination, human resource content, language, improvement orientation and building communities/teams to share information. As the process of knowledge management in its evolution stage but its importance is acknowledged by various organizations, and they are implementing it in their organization so that they can get a competitive edge over their rivals. Our survey analysis reveals that without addressing these culturalA factors knowledge managements cannot be implemented successfully. Hence, we can say that at first organizations should address these cultural factors at first, and then they should implement knowledge management in their organization. The main limitations in our research study were,A a) time available to complete our research was limited andA b) most of the banks i.e. foreign and islamic limited banks are operatingA at the limited scale with few branches all over Pakistan.

Cite this page